Top Nonprofit Taglines

Organizations that play the branding game — and play it well — are part of a growing trend of thriving nonprofits whose mottos help to build awareness of their value and put them in donors’ “hearts, minds, schedules and wallets,” says Nancy Schwartz, president of Nancy Schwartz & Co. and blogger at GettingAttention.org.

The 2008 Getting Attention Nonprofit Tagline Award Competition, which originated when so many nonprofits submitted taglines to the recent Getting Attention survey on nonprofit taglines, showed that to be true.

The entire list of submitted taglines, details on finalists, and award winners and survey findings will be featured in The Nonprofit Tagline Report. The survey, implemented December 2007 through January 2008, investigated styles, usage trends, and what’s working and what’s not in nonprofit taglines based on data provided by 1,900 nonprofit communicators.

The final report will be published in September.

The winning taglines in the competition “emphasize how powerfully taglines can work as a first step in branding or as a highly effective tool to refresh a nonprofit’s messaging, emphasize its commitment to its work and/or revive tired positioning,” Schwartz said in a recent press release, which also outlined the winners of the competition. The winners, along with Schwartz’s explanation of what makes them winning taglines, are:

* Arts and Culture: Where Actors Find Their Space (NYC Theatre Spaces) — “This clearinghouse for NYC rehearsal and performance spaces uses a double entendre to go beyond a description of its services and highlight the value of its work,” Schwartz says.

* Civic Benefit: Stand Up for a Child (CASA of Southwest Missouri) — In just five words, the tagline provokes anger, compassion and a desire to help.

* Education: Stay Close … Go Far (East Stroudsburg University) — The university’s simple yet distinctive tagline cuts through the clutter. “Its straightforward character mirrors that of the school,” notes Schwartz.